Locked out of family pics etc. on Google Nexus 7 2013 edition

runswithascript

The screen on my Nexus 7 was damaged a few months ago, and it was left unused until I finally got it repaired and returned to me yesterday.

Unfortunately I have so many different devices, I have forgotten the PIN code. I was aware I was unsure of the code while it was in for repair, but I was relying on the fact that I thought I could use the Android forgotten password option to reset via Gmail.

Unfortunately it seems this option does not exist, despite inputting many incorrect PINs and getting the 30 seconds delay. I have read this must be because the version must be Lollipop or above.

I also tried Android Device Manager, which can communicate with the device as it is online, and I set a lock code 1234, which the Nexus 7 mentions when I turn on the screen, but it does not accept it. Apparently if the device already has a PIN lock set up, that overrides the Android Device Manager lock PIN.

I know I can factory reset, but I would hate to lose the pictures - and yes this is another reason why I should have configured something where my files are backed up to drive etc. automatically. Is there anything I can do?

long_b

Connect it up to a PC via a micro USB cable and transfer across the contents of the DCIM folders under either "Phone" or "Card"

ThisRegard

Have you checked Google Photos online? There's a pretty good chance they're all backed up to your Google account as I think by default they do.

runswithascript

long_b wrote: »

Connect it up to a PC via a micro USB cable and transfer across the contents of the DCIM folders under either "Phone" or "Card"

So it mounts, but as I suspected, even though I have connected it to my PC before to transfer files, it would seem I need to confirm it is Okay Android side first, which I cannot with the screen locked. When I open up Nexus 7 there is nothing in it.

ThisRegard wrote: »

Have you checked Google Photos online? There's a pretty good chance they're all backed up to your Google account as I think by default they do.

I just checked, not there unfortunately!

runswithascript

Okay, so the PIN just came to me, huge relief. I am going to set up Google Photos to automatically backup my photos in case this ever happens again, or the tablet is lost, and double check that I have Prey installed - for anyone ever in a similar position not remember their PIN for their Nexus, the Nexus Root Toolkit did seem to offer a glimmer of hope, so you should investigate that.

Is there anything I else I should do that may perhaps allow me reset the PIN in the future?

dusf

dusf wrote: »

Okay, so the PIN just came to me, huge relief. I am going to set up Google Photos to automatically backup my photos in case this ever happens again, or the tablet is lost, and double check that I have Prey installed - for anyone ever in a similar position not remember their PIN for their Nexus, the Nexus Root Toolkit did seem to offer a glimmer of hope, so you should investigate that.

Is there anything I else I should do that may perhaps allow me reset the PIN in the future?

I thought you said that if you're on lollipop then it's not an issue? Just make sure you are running lollipop.

runswithascript

Basil3 wrote: »

I thought you said that if you're on lollipop then it's not an issue? Just make sure you are running lollipop.

No, if you run Lollipop or above it is an issue, from that version on Android no longer offers the option to reset your password from the device, or anywhere else. Try enter your PIN wrong a few times, and see for yourself.

dusf

dusf wrote: »

No, if you run Lollipop or above it is an issue, from that version on Android no longer offers the option to reset your password from the device, or anywhere else. Try enter your PIN wrong a few times, and see for yourself.

None of my tablets have anything important on them, and everything important on my Android phones is on the cloud. Guess it's a problem I'll never have

One way to avoid the problem in the future would be to use smart lock, apparently. I use it with most of my devices.

runswithascript

Basil3 wrote: »

None of my tablets have anything important on them, and everything important on my Android phones is on the cloud. Guess it's a problem I'll never have

So Google Photos, and uploading things manually to Drive, or what other methods do you employ exactly?

Basil3 wrote: »

One way to avoid the problem in the future would be to use smart lock, apparently. I use it with most of my devices.

As I understand it that automatically unlocks your devices when you are at home - I would rather there was some form of security, even when at home.

dusf

dusf wrote: »

So Google Photos, and uploading things manually to Drive, or what other methods do you employ exactly?



As I understand it that automatically unlocks your devices when you are at home - I would rather there was some form of security, even when at home.

Photos are the only thing I'd miss on any of my devices, but yeah...all backed up to Google photos. Contacts as well, I guess, but they're all on google too.

I also have a bunch of documents etc spread across Dropbox and Drive, but none of them would be originating from my phone, they'd all be synced from laptop.

I guess if security is that important to you that you even want it secured when at home, then use some kind of password manager to remember it for you....then you only ever need to know the password for your password manager.

runswithascript

Basil3 wrote: »

Photos are the only thing I'd miss on any of my devices, but yeah...all backed up to Google photos. Contacts as well, I guess, but they're all on google too.

Yeah, I have Google Photos currently backing up all photos from my tablet, my phone, and I will do the same with my laptop and PC photos also. I selected to use original resolution, at the cost of unlimited storage using Google's resized resolution, did you do the same yourself? I have a university Gmail account with 100GB of storage, so if I keep using original resolution a good idea may be to switch Google Photos to use that, rather than the remaining 6GB I have on my personal Gmail/Drive[/QUOTE]

Basil3 wrote: »

I guess if security is that important to you that you even want it secured when at home, then use some kind of password manager to remember it for you....then you only ever need to know the password for your password manager.

Currently I use Firefox (with sync), and a Google Doc for passwords, which is messy, and I am sure there is a better method, something I need to look into.

dusf

dusf wrote: »

Yeah, I have Google Photos currently backing up all photos from my tablet, my phone, and I will do the same with my laptop and PC photos also. I selected to use original resolution, at the cost of unlimited storage using Google's resized resolution, did you do the same yourself? I have a university Gmail account with 100GB of storage, so if I keep using original resolution a good idea may be to switch Google Photos to use that, rather than the remaining 6GB I have on my personal Gmail/Drive

Google photos does free unlimited up to 16MP. My current phone is 12MP, so no issues there. I also have a DSLR that is 24MP, but have no problems with them being downsized to 16MP. If I have any pics I really want to keep at full res, I'll back them up individually. Theres no point wasting your limited space on photos, imo.

runswithascript

Basil3 wrote: »

Google photos does free unlimited up to 16MP. My current phone is 12MP, so no issues there. I also have a DSLR that is 24MP, but have no problems with them being downsized to 16MP. If I have any pics I really want to keep at full res, I'll back them up individually. Theres no point wasting your limited space on photos, imo.

I was going to look into exactly how Google resizes, I do not have a 16MP camera, although I have a Moto G4 Plus which is exactly 16MP on the way to me from the UK - so a good fit there then! About to reset Nexus 7 just to try and refresh it, then I will switch Google Photos to use the unlimited storage!

Alun

Basil3 wrote: »

Google photos does free unlimited up to 16MP. My current phone is 12MP, so no issues there. I also have a DSLR that is 24MP, but have no problems with them being downsized to 16MP. If I have any pics I really want to keep at full res, I'll back them up individually. Theres no point wasting your limited space on photos, imo.

Whilst it does keep the same resolution, 16MP in my case, the file size is greatly reduced, presumably by storing the files at a lower JPEG quality. Most of my original photos from my camera are around 6MB, but the versions on Google Photos are around 1MB or less.

Alun

Alun wrote: »

Whilst it does keep the same resolution, 16MP in my case, the file size is greatly reduced, presumably by storing the files at a lower JPEG quality. Most of my original photos from my camera are around 6MB, but the versions on Google Photos are around 1MB or less.

Yeah, that's true...but I don't think you can really tell any difference with the quality of the compressed pics

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/arpit-verma/does-google-photos-compress-the-life-out-of-your-pics-heres-wh/

Of course, if you're a pro photographer, then save at full res.